OCTOFODA. 



OCTOPODA. 



^^.vlio^b^without abell. and 



* spot of a brown 



. laterally. The**, wb*n 



d br UM mkroacop*, war* ooa*td*r*d to be the riacera of th* 

 ArW UM three daya the young poulp* began to exhibit 

 Bluaaca*, with two row* of obacnr* point*, which were 

 i of the arm* and Booker*. Tbe other arm* began to be 



i arm* ana aooaan. i am VMMK HM "i-" 

 day. after UM .ailing-arms, and on UM sixth d.-v 

 mad UM fir.t lamina of the ahell. which WM 



the interior of UM apir*, and when excluded 

 i the roof of Ih* apire and the mantle of the mother. 

 Fruca the** obacrraUoo* Madam* Power eoodude* that the newly- 

 bom poulp ha* DO ahell. The obairvatico* of Poli therefore do not 

 uorraapOBd with UM raperimeata mad* by Madam* Power; and th* 

 . lady add*, with rtanilirtHil Btodeaty, It I w*r* not apeaking of ao 

 uslitirali J a maa, 1 ahcold vntor to say that the internal membrane 

 of the **g wai mbtakm by him for UM auppoaed rudiment of the *helL" 



Martini Power, wishing to diaoover whether the little poulp could, 

 wHaeui extraneous aid. begin to work th* structure of it* ahell, or 

 whether the parent aialatiT ia th* original formation, cautiously cut 

 oil th* apir* of diver* Argonaut* at the time of their fecundation. 

 Ia UM direction of it* axia ah* found in one a little new-born poulp 

 rolled up near the apex. l>n attentive obecrvation she perceived 

 that b*tw*m it and UM bottom of UM apire of the parent-shell there 

 WBI a this membrane, djtpoaed in the aame form a* the curve of the 

 pin. and fitted to UM rolled up little poolp, a* if the gluten in which 

 Ih7 wboU infant moUoac waa embedded, preaaed between it and the 

 ad of UM apir*. became OMMoUdated into a fin* membrane in the 

 aaaa* form a* UM apir*, and embraced UM young poulp. 



In September. IMS, Madam* Power inclosed in her cage aome 

 Aigoanate at UM Urn* of their fecundation, taking care to examine 

 thaw every fourth day cairfnlly, for their irritability i* such that they 

 di* if hBBfflad much. They were placed in a baain, and the observer 

 wai ao poatod that they could not we her. 



Oo the Uth Madame Power found in one of the thrill a little 

 ponlp 14 UBBI wag. Other shells were Marched ; and in some, little 

 poulp. were found, ia others none. On UM 18th two parent poulp* 

 *r* dead. In th* .hell of that wherein ab* had fint *een the little 

 oclp ab* feoad that it had already pawed into the spire. On the 

 Xlth. upon uaaa.lBa.1lnn of thia aame abell, the little poulp was found 

 already eovend with it* thin ahell, which was 84 line* in length. 

 Thi* utU* aninal appeared to be completely formed, and it* ahell bad 

 UM form of UM apir* ia which it had been framed. 



All UM axparimawt* mad* by Madam* Power bad the aame result* ; 

 her aBferasc* ia, that th* young Argonaut, when excluded from the 

 egg, is naked ; that it i* progmiively developed in the end of the 

 r* of the parent ; aad that after a certain period it goes on forming 

 theaheU. 



A* hr aa Madam* Power ha* ohacrved, not more than two or three 

 *gg *>*up Ihanaalvni at th* aame time ; and when the young have 

 wan to UM length of nine line*, they successively incloae themselves 

 la UM apinl of the parent, where UM other arm* are thrown out in 

 UM aiatiair of bad*. Th* young on* take* three day* to arrive at the 

 length of B*M lima, and feu-la the .piral to develop itaelf. The 

 retain* UM young one thre* more daya under her, and then 



BJMtoit 



AB ** waa mad* by Madam* Power to produce UM develop- 

 ment of UM egg* a* far aa th* production of the young poult., without 

 Ih* aid of th* mother, by aoapandiag them in a flnTlinen bag in***, 

 wntor. whiah WM banged thrice lathe day. This attempt faUed ; the 

 " 1 indeed, bat it waa the tumidity of putrefaction. 



t_J_ t .1.. . y,^ y,, gmt j noul 



ofth*e*u>ofUM 



ia a 



Power .peak for hmelf. " In .pile of 

 ia favour of the ahell being the property 

 . I was anxiotti to be aanired of the fact 

 attempted by other*. If the Argonaut,' 

 I W1, h ought U be able to repair fracture.' 

 BdaaUlhatitwaanottobe beliered that 

 I Bovb. of UM Argonaut ahovJd be w ill provided with mean* 

 aa^ Uthepreaarraiio. of their xiataooe, that if the first habi- 

 be broke* or loat, thry cannot oonatruct nother ; .till 

 I th.aahl. (roBi hi* mode of expreaeioo, that he had Barer bimerlf 



a M| artaaiBli IB proof of thia. Moreover I, who had made expert- 

 ata *Beba*jJl*ilofth*e* BaaBaaaa. have found that, when they have 

 \ their thaU, they * lampabU of conatrDcting another, and die ; 



watlhairi 



t \ -* .,-j 



\aj*>ijaj} ( MM IMA 



taat It frrd. wr rmwatlr 

 V laa*\ m (a*4 H I* (arm tv Ike are* apea the rd, kra tae abeU 

 tot*MBiM,lll*Mai%l.aa4ineaUa>*. ( 111*. ABUB..M'. I.) 



but I broke in several place* the thell* of twenty-iix individual*, 

 and, to my great satisfaction, found, after thirteen day*, the fracture* 

 healed ia all the aurvivora, which were not more than three. The 

 newly-secreted portion wai stouter than the uninjured part of the 

 shell, bat not ao white ; it looked also a little rough and disturbed, 

 neither did it present the usual rising*, and, instead of ribs, it had 

 some longitudinal furrown. Being desirous of observing in what 

 manner the animal operated in repairing the broken shell, I took one 

 the day after the first experiment, and found that the aperture waa 

 covered by a thin glutinous lamina, which, somewhat in the manner 

 of a cobweb, unites the two margins of the broken shell. The next 

 day the lamina was, to a certain degree, thickened and more opaque, 

 till, at the expiration of ten or twelve days, the new piece had become 

 quite calcareous. Whilst the Argonaut was in the act of mending 

 the fractures iu ita shell, I am quite sure that it applied the sail* 

 to the shell and wrinkled them upon it, and by this movement I con- 

 sidered that the glutinous secretion which finally became calcareous 

 was deposited." 



So far Madame Power has shown that the Argonaut ha* the power 

 of repairing 'fractures in the shell, like other Tcttacea, though not 

 exactly by the saiuo means; but she noticed another power, which she 

 states that, as far as she knows, ha* not been observed in other testa- 

 ceana. She found that whenever the animal which is going to repair 

 it* habitation can find pieces of other Argonaut shells, it takes, by 

 means of ita sail-arm, a fitting piece of broken ahell and holds it iu the 

 fractured place, till it has secreted the material necessary for the firm 

 attachment of the fragment, thus saving the expense and trouble of a 

 secretion for supplying the whole area of the fractured aperture. 

 " After such a series of experiments," says Madame Power, " it aeem<) 

 to be sufficiently proved that the poulp of the Argonaut is the con- 

 structor of the shell in which it lives, and out of which it cannot exist 

 long." 



Now, though there may appear in the account of these experiment* 

 evidence of their having been drawn up by one not deeply versed in 

 zoology, there is an air of truth and sincerity about them that make* 

 them to as as valuable at least a* any that could have been the result 

 of the inquiries of a more learned observer. Madame Power indeed 

 has, in our opinion, come to a somewhat hasty conclusion that these 

 animals are hermaphrodites, because nil those that were examined 

 by her (more than a hundred) were furnished with eggs; but this 

 inference ia evidently not deemed conclusive by her, for she states her 

 intention of making careful anatomical researches on this subject, which 

 she had not enjoyed the opportunity of making when she wrote. 



In a second paper, with the title of ' Xuove Osservazione guile 

 Uovo del Polpo dell' Argonauta Argo,' by the same ludy, she makes 

 the following observations on the progressive development of the 

 young Argonaut The egg waa at first white and transparent ; no 

 structure waa discernible in it After fifteen days it presented 

 spots of a beautiful red. In ten day* more the poulp could be dis- 

 cerned through the epidermis of the egg. Then the poulp began to 

 break through that involucrum, and to the naked eye presented an 

 elliptical form, with the eyes and mouth, and a very transparent 

 membrane which forms the mantle. Towards the mouth some small 

 and almost imperceptible filament* were observed, which Madame 

 Power supposed to be the rudiment* of the bronchia!. The poulps 

 were now naked, but in twelve day* from that time, on visiting them 

 again, aome were found which hod already formed their shell, and the 

 parent retained them and nourished them with her gelatinous secretion, 

 as Madame Power had already stated in her Memoir published in the 

 12th volume of the 'Transactions of the Oiccnian Academy.' 



Captain Philip Parker King, K.X., during his well-known voyage, 

 met with aome ipccimena of Aryonauta in a rather curious way ; and 

 though he expresses his opinion with much modesty, it is plain what 

 the inclination of that opinion waa. 



" On our passage from Santos to St Catherine's, in lat 23" south, 

 we caught," aayi Captain King, " a Dolphin (Coryphana), the mnw of 

 which I found filled with shells of Aryonaata tulcrcnloia,* and all con- 

 taining the IMopm OtytMt that ha* been always found a* it* inhabitant 

 Moat of the specimens were crunhed by the narrow passage into tho 

 stomach, but the smaller one* were quite perfect, and had been so 

 recently swallowed that I waa enabled to preserve several of various 

 aixe* containing the animal. To aome of them wo* attached a nidus 

 07 *K8*i which was deposited between the animal and the Bpire. The 

 hell* varied in aixe from two-thirds of an inch to two and a half in-ii. 

 in length; each contained an Ocloput, tho bulk and shape of wlik-h 

 were so completely adapted to that of the shell, that it seemed as if 

 tho ahell increased with the animal's growth. When so many learned 

 uaturaluta have differed ao materially as to the character of tho 

 inhabitant* of the Argonaut a, it would be presumption in me to 

 exprea* an opinion ; I therefore merely mention the fact, and xtate 

 that in no specimen did there appear to be any connection between 

 the animal and the shell." (' Voyage* of the Adventure and Beagle,' 

 vnl. j. p. 106.) We had an opportunity of examining the specimens 

 above alluded to soon after CapUin King'* return, and they bore out 

 in every particular the description given by him. 



M. D'Orbigny (' Voyage dans rAmcViquo MiSridionale ') camo to a 



A. ri/a of Owen. 



